Through the Earth
by Calamity Kitten
Summary: Aragorn and Legolas return from a trip to Harad and the journey home gets a lot more interesting - and wearying - for the two than they would have expected.
1. Default Chapter

By Draugwen and Elnáriël

Rating: PG

Summary: When Aragorn and Legolas return from a trip to Harad Aragorn decides to take the long way back. So the journey home gets a lot more interesting - and wearying - for the two than they would have expected.

This was actually written for a challenge from the Mellon Chronicles-site, the topic being 'friends in small spaces'.

Disclaimer: We own nothing of Middle Earth or any of Tolkien's worlds or characters. Lucky for you, because if we did, none of you would ever see them again ;)  
The Simbani clan and Sircyn belong to Cassia and Sio of the Mellon Chronicles

Spoilers: Stars of Harad, which is part of the 'Mellon Chronicles', (only a little bit, so you don't have to read it to understand the story)

_So, 'nuff said, on with the story…;p_

**Through the Earth**

Legolas looked out over the silent moonlit desert, and then at his friend who slept beside him.

He smiled. It had taken him some time to convince Aragorn that he needed rest and they should make camp. But once laid down, the human had immediately fallen asleep.

The two had travelled far that day. They had visited the Simbani clan in Harad to see how they were faring in their newly reached freedom. Now they were on their way back to Rivendell.

They were still in the desert, mostly because of Aragorn's idea not to take the easy way, the Harad Road, but to keep on its eastern side and make a little discovery trip through the lands of near Harad.

Legolas laughed silently as he thought back to what the Dúnadan had said when they had set camp. 'Isn't it amazing? Such a long trip and nothing happened! Looks as if we're going to come home safely that time!' 'Just wait Strider,' the elven prince had retorted dryly. 'We're not home yet.' 'Oh, come on! Just this time we'll make it in one piece!' 'Don't be too sure of it.' 'Oh you old pessimist!'

But Strider had been right, Legolas had to admit now, slightly amused. They had managed a very long trip now without any incidents. He hoped that wouldn't change too soon.

Well it did change. Legolas immediately woke his friend when he noticed the change in the air. 'What is it?' Aragorn mumbled sleepily, opening his eyes. 'A storm. We must seek shelter.' 'Shelter?' The ranger scrambled to his feet, still not quite awake. 'You're joking, Legolas. We're in the desert. There is no such thing as "shelter".'

'There is. I've seen some deserted stone buildings some distance away, over there' he pointed out a direction. 'We only have to get there in time.'

Aragorn wasn't really satisfied. 'So glad that you think I can make it,' he said sarcastically. 'No, really, how much is "some distance", Legolas?' The elf sighed. 'I should have let you sleep. You're still insufferable when you're tired. You haven't improved any. Now stop complaining and follow me!'

"Some distance away" Aragorn soon found out was quite a long way. Too long. Before they reached it they were already stuck in the middle of the finest sandstorm. Aragorn resisted the urge to show Legolas some of his knowledge about dwarfish curses and fought his way through the flying sand that blocked his vision. These buildings had to be round here somewhere. He took another step forward - and lost the ground beneath his feet.

'Aragorn?' Legolas blinked and shielded his eyes with his hand, trying to see something. His friend was gone. 'Aragorn!' His keen elven hearing picked up the sound of the Dúnadan's voice, somewhere below him, but he couldn't understand the words.

Deep down beneath the elf's feet, Aragorn found himself lying on the ground of a dry well. Black spots danced before his eyes and he felt a searing pain in his right leg. He shouted to Legolas not to come nearer, unsure whether his friend would understand him.

He did not. Soon Legolas found himself lying half beside, half on top of the ranger, deep below the surface. His head hurt badly from the impact and it took him a while to be able to see again. He had knocked his head really hard, but chose to ignore it. He considered a minor - as he told himself - head wound not too important in their current situation.

He rolled off of his friend. 'Well, I told you isn't exactly the right word,' he mumbled sarcastically. 'It is an understatement.'

Aragorn moaned.

'Strider? Are you all right?' Legolas asked worriedly. 'Believe me, I've never felt better.' Legolas just shook his head at the sarcastic comment and began to look whether his friend had any bad injuries.

'That leg is broken Strider,' he stated after a while. Aragorn nodded. He had expected that. 'We can do nothing for it now, Legolas. Leave it.'

'Leave it? Your father would kill me for even thinking about that, mellon nîn. It would never fully heal again!' 'Then what will you do?'

Legolas remained silent for a while, thinking. He needed something to splint the leg, but they had nothing useful with them, had they?

Then something crossed his mind. Sure, they had. He took his quiver and pulled some arrows out of it. The heads and fletchings he snapped off and laid aside. Like that, the arrows would do for a makeshift splint. Then he searched Aragorn's pack for a bandage. The human watched him questioningly but let him work.

When he had finally managed to splint his friend's leg he leant back against the wall, blinking to get rid of the light blur in his vision.

He gave his friend a lopsided grin. 'Come home safely Estel, eh?' He looked at the tiny seeming opening far above their heads. The storm had grown even worse. 'Well,' he said dryly, 'at least we're out of that.'

'And how are we going to get out of here again?' Aragorn asked after a while of silently watching as his elven companion examined the wall. Legolas shrugged; he didn't know. He felt somehow dizzy and couldn't think clearly.

'Are you all right, Legolas?' 'Yes, it's nothing. I'm fine,' he replied almost automatically.

Aragorn sighed. He should have known better than to expect a different answer. 'And how are you really?' 'Hey, I'm not the one with a broken leg! I'm fine, really, and I think we have bigger problems,' the prince answered.

'Couldn't we climb up again?' Aragorn asked hopefully. 'Climb up?' The elf gave a short, dry laugh and turned to look at him. 'Now you are joking, Estel. Back into the storm? And you know very well you wouldn't get anywhere with that leg. Not even I can climb up there. The walls are as slippery as ice.' 'Then what shall we do?'

'How should I know?' It sounded sharper than intended. Legolas let his dully aching head rest against the cold wall, trying to calm down and get rid of the blur in his vision.

Then he spotted something in the dark. 'What's that?' 'What?' Aragorn asked back. 'Behind you.' The ranger turned with some difficulties and stared at the wall. At least what he had thought to be a wall. There was a hole. 'There seems to be a passageway,' he informed his friend. He peered into it but couldn't make out more. Legolas knelt beside him and studied the hole. 'I can't see where it ends. But it's very long.'

'Perhaps it leads outside,' Estel said hopefully. 'You don't want to go through there!'

'Do you have a better idea?' Legolas remained silent. 'See, we will go through there.'

'You mean crawl. Estel, I-' 'I know you don't like caves, mellon nîn. But this is no cave.' 'No', the elf muttered as he crept into the opening, followed by his human friend.

'It is worse.'

They had travelled for what seemed to be an eternity. How long or how far exactly Legolas had no way of knowing for he had long ago lost the track of time.

By now, his head was throbbing fiercely, his vision started to cloud, so that he could barely see what was ahead of him. The elf was disturbed; he was not healing as well as he should, but he suspected that this was due to his current surroundings.

He was tired, overly tired, still he forced himself to go - no, to crawl on, his eyes fixed on the way that lay before him. Legolas knew, if they would stop he would have to face the tightness of this place. To him, this journey in the dark, where the only light was the soft radiance of his own body, was far worse than any kind of torture.

Every time they rested the walls seemed to close in around him and he could feel every bit of stone and sand pressing down on him. But of course they could not go on forever, especially because of Aragorn's injured leg. So eventually, they came to a stop.

Wearily Legolas leaned against the wall, his eyes closed. Oh, how he yearned for the open sky, or just for an opportunity to stand up and stretch his legs. Unconsciously, he lifted his hand to touch the wound on the back of his head.

But suddenly he heard a sharp intake of breath. 'Legolas!' Aragorn exclaimed.

'Why in Ilúvatar's name did you not speak of this?'

The ranger had watched his friend closely, concerned by the elf's pale skin and his obvious exhaustion. When he had bent his head and lifted his hand, Aragorn had caught a glimpse of the back of Legolas' head.

What he found there nearly made him jump: the blond hair was covered with dry blood, which was obviously coming from a really nasty head-wound.

He was just about to reach out for his friend when Legolas waved his hand. 'I'm fine, Estel! Just sit still and give your leg a rest.'

But Aragorn was not about to obey. 'You are hurt! By the Valar, this wound could be infected, don't you know what this could do to you?' the ranger said sharply and perhaps a little too loud.

'Aragorn, stop fussing over it!' Legolas snapped irritably. Somewhere in the back of their minds they realized that they were starting to yell at each other and that that made no sense. But neither of them cared, exhaustion, pain and the tight darkness of this place finally taking their toll.

'I will be fine, so would you please sit down and take care of yourself?'

'Yes, I could do that, but then no one would look after you, your wound will become infected and before you know it you will collapse, just because you're too damn proud to admit that you need help!' Aragorn responded angrily.

Legolas took a breath, shaking with the effort to control himself, and finally said in a tight voice: 'I won't collapse; I know what I can endure! What I need of you now is that you leave me alone! Sit down and rest so that we can move on as soon as possible! I want to get out of here as soon as possible!'

'That sounds as if I would like it here! I hate this darkness as much as you do, if not more, for I'm not the one who can see in the dark! At least you can see what lies in front of you!'

'Well, you certainly seem to like it to drag me into situations like this one! Since I know you I've been in more trouble than in all the centuries before! Why can't we just for once have a normal trip together? You really seem to like it to challenge our fate! Why did we end up here in the place? Just because you insisted on walking through the desert -'

'Legolas, DARO!' Aragorn screamed and slammed his fist down on the rough ground so hard that his skin broke. Legolas stopped dead, horrified at what he had heard himself say, and stricken as he looked at Aragorn. The young man was shaking; tears glistened in his eyes.

'Do you think I don't know that I'm nothing but a burden to you? Do you think I don't know how you must feel in a place like this one? Do you think it is easy for me, seeing you like this and knowing that I am responsible?

I want to get out of here, but more than anything I want to get you out of here! Because you are important to me, because I care about you. But perhaps you are right and it really would be better if we.'

He was almost sobbing now and his voice faltered. Desperately he closed his eyes and lowered his head. But suddenly he felt two gentle hands on his cheeks, tipping his head back up. Legolas had moved, now he was kneeling in front of the human, bent towards him until their foreheads rested against one another's.

'I'm sorry, Estel, I'm so sorry' he whispered. Tears shone in his eyes, too.

'I didn't mean a word of everything that I said just now. I don't know what happened to me, but don't give anything on them. Of course you are no burden, don't you dare even thinking something like that! And I will never, ever, abandon you or our friendship, gwador nîn!

To me it's the most important thing I ever had in my life!

And by the way, if I had never met you I would most probably be bored to death by now.'

They both started to laugh quietly.

And thus they remained, even as they fell silent, afraid to shatter the moment.

At length Legolas spoke again: 'I think that we both need rest.'

'What?' Aragorn asked with mock surprise. 'Did I really just hear Legolas Greenleaf admit that he needs rest? You must have hit your head really hard.'

Again they snickered. 'Don't get used to it, Estel.'

Suddenly Aragorn sat up. 'Legolas, you still-'

'Shh, I know,' Legolas interrupted. 'We will sleep now. After that you may see to my wound. I promise.' 'I'll hold you to that,' Aragorn said smirking.

'Sure you will,' the elf answered as they both leaned back against the wall.

'You know what?' Legolas asked suddenly. 'Our fathers will be so mad at us!'

Aragorn frowned. 'Do they have to know?'

'Well, they will eventually find out, because we are not exactly in a good shape. And we've

never been good at lying to them,' the elf said with a wry grin.

'Right. But,' Aragorn said as he leaned his head against the prince's shoulder. 'I think we can take care of that problem when we get to it.'

With that he closed his eyes and fell asleep in an instant.

'You are right, my brother.' Legolas put his arm around the man's shoulders and moments later he too gave in to the call of sleep.

'Aragorn?' Only reluctantly let he go off sleep. 'Hm? What time is it?' he mumbled.

Legolas chuckled. 'I've got no idea. But we should go on.'

Aragorn slowly opened his eyes and took in what he could see of his surroundings. Still half asleep, he first didn't realize where he was. Oh yes. They were still in that tunnel thing.

He gave Legolas a small smirk. 'We won't go before I've seen to your wound. You promised.'

Legolas sighed mockingly. 'I hoped you would be too sleepy to remember.' Aragorn grinned. 'Not a chance, mellon nîn.'

He pulled a waterskin and some healing herbs out of his bag. As he moved he had to bite his lip to stifle a moan. His leg had not improved, in fact it seemed to have gotten worse. Still he decided to not tell his friend, he had enough to deal with. So he moved on to tend to the elf's wound. 'Hold still.' Gently he began to clean the wound, careful not to cause his friend too much pain. Legolas waited patiently. He turned his full attention to Aragorn's actions, trying to ignore the tightness of the tunnel.

'Are you all right?' Strider asked from behind. He nodded.

'That could have become really nasty, you know that?' He nodded.

'You should have told me, Legolas.' He nodded.

'Hey, are you listening to me at all?' Legolas shook his head slightly in mock denial at laughed softly at the ranger's resigned sigh.

Carefully, Aragorn made a bandage around the elf's head. When finished, he leaned back and looked at the result. A soft chuckle escaped his lips.

'What's so funny?' 'You should see yourself!' Legolas rolled his eyes. 'Now you won't tell me you look much better with that leg of yours, will you! Anyway, do you have some of that stuff left?' He pointed at his bandage. 'Yes, why?'

Legolas pulled the cloth out of the rangers pack, picked up the waterskin and gently began to see to Aragorn's hand, where the skin was broken.

'We would not want to get that infected, would we?' He smiled. 'I'm sure you don't want to look that bad when we return home.' Aragorn chuckled.

Legolas carefully bandaged his friend's hand. Then he put the waterskin back into the pack.

'Now we're ready for going on,' he said, smiling, and off they went.

They hadn't come far when Aragorn called for Legolas to stop. Legolas was just about to ask his human friend what was wrong, yet the words caught in his throat as he turned and looked at the ranger. His face was ghostly white and contorted with pain and a thin layer of sweat glistened on his face. 'Aragorn! What. It's your leg, isn't it?' The ranger nodded. 'It's getting worse' he said through clenched teeth. The prince took the bandage off and gasped at what he saw: the leg was flaming red and swollen. 'We will have to cool it down, Aragorn! We can use a bit of water, but it would help more if we had something like balm. You don't have something like that with you?' Aragorn thought for a moment. 'Actually, I think I still have something of the paste I used on Sircyn when he broke his arm during our visit. It's in a rather flat box in my bag.'

Legolas began searching his friend's bag. Suddenly he stopped, when he noticed something in the passage before them. 'Aragorn, wait for a moment!' he said, then he moved on around the corner. 'What is it?' the man called.

'Something like a cave,' the elf answered, sounding excited and, what brought a smile to Aragorn's face, almost relieved.

'It is big enough to stand up, if we haven't forgotten how to do that. It will be easier to tend your leg in-'

He stopped. For a long moment, Aragorn heard nothing. Just as he was about to ask what was going on, his friend spoke again. 'There's something in here!' Aragorn was about to crawl to his friend, but the elf seemed to have read his thoughts.

'Stay where you are, Strider!' he shouted. 'I don't think that - whoa!'

A few moments later Legolas darted around the corner, looking shocked.

'What? What was it?' the ranger asked anxiously. 'Spiders,' Legolas hissed as he sat down beside his friend. 'Many spiders, and really big ones. Too big to fit in here, lucky for us, but we still have a problem.'

'Yes, but that also means that we must be nearing the end of this horrible tunnel. For spiders need food and somehow I doubt that many beings are living down here.'

Legolas held up his hand. 'I hate to be the pessimistic one, but even if there is an exit it has to be big enough for these. beasts. So even if we do manage to get past them we won't be able to hide from them in the other part of the tunnel. Got my point?'

Aragorn sighed. 'Alright, we do have a problem.'

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

By Draugwen and Elnáriël

Summary and Disclaimer: see first chapter

**Through the Earth – Chapter 2**

For long moments they sat there in silence, each of them thinking of a way that would miraculously get them out of this situation.

Suddenly Legolas got up and moved towards the bend of the tunnel. 'I need to find out something,' he called over his shoulder. 'I'll be right back, so don't do anything stupid, understood!' And before Aragorn got the chance to reply the elf had moved around the corner and vanished out of sight, leaving the ranger in total darkness.

'Don't do anything stupid! As if I could do that when I can see absolutely nothing,' he thought sarcastically.

With a sigh he leaned back against the wall. Normally he never would have let the prince go alone, but he really needed rest, or rather his leg did. It was still aching fiercely, not at all happy with the strain that was placed upon it as the ranger robbed through the tunnel, and though their makeshift bandage had helped so far the pain was now almost too much.

But even that could not keep him from being concerned. During their walk in here the soft glow of Legolas' skin had become steadily weaker, though a casual observer would have hardly noticed, especially because Legolas never complained and simply pushed every discussion concerning his own health aside.

But Aragorn knew the elf far too well to be fooled: his friend was wearying.

It was the way his shoulder slumped when he thought the ranger would not notice. It was the way he closed his eyes, however briefly, every time they had to stop. But most of all it was that sudden outburst yesterday.

Never before had Aragorn seen his friend losing control over his actions or his words, and though he believed him when he said that he didn't mean what he had said, it was still strange to think back on this argument. He didn't even remember how it had started.

But this was just the point: it had been so completely senseless. He suspected it was the tightness of this place that ailed Legolas. 

His thoughts were interrupted when Legolas re-appeared. The elf's fair face was set in a way that told the ranger that he had come to a decision, and that Aragorn wasn't going to like it.

Without preamble the prince spoke: 'All right Aragorn: I found a way. Listen closely, don't interrupt me and most of all don't try to argue with me!' 'I'm not going to like this, am I?' the ranger asked carefully. 'No,' his elven friend replied dryly. 'But that doesn't matter, it's the only chance we have.'

'Now listen: I've had a closer look at the cave, there really seems to be an exit, or at least that's what I make of it. But to reach it we will have to be really careful! I've found a way to crawl there, for there are many bigger rocks lying on the floor that should give us some shelter from the views of the spiders. Still, a few metres before the next tunnel we will have to cross uncovered. Most probably the spiders will notice us then but this will be not your business. You will concentrate on nothing but to get out of here. I will try to distract and fight them as best as I can, until you are a good distance ahead.'

'And you think I will-' Legolas held up his hand.

'If you have a better suggestion the I'm all ears, if not we're going to do it my way. You can't fight and we can't stay here long enough for your leg to get better, for we are running out of supplies.'

Aragorn sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, Legolas was right. 'Alright, we do it your way. But you have to promise me that if it looks like you can't fight them any longer you have to run, and do not think of me then, I can take care of myself.'

'Right,' Legolas smiled. 'Now let's go! I'm so eager to get out of here!'

Then he dimmed the light of his body to a minimum, and then, very slowly, very carefully, they crawled towards the cave, Legolas in the front.

The elf had been right: the boulders on the ground shielded them from the spiders and they managed to cover the distance to the open space before the other tunnel without being noticed.

Now the difficult part would begin. Legolas mentioned for Aragorn to go first. The ranger obeyed, but not without a last glance at his companion that clearly said : 'Be careful!' Then he turned his face forward and robbed in the direction of the tunnel.

For some time it almost looked as if he was going to make it, but as he could not see what was before him he missed a pile of small stones and tripped on them, sending them rolling over the rough ground with enough noise to tell every spider in the cave that there was an intruder in their home.

And true enough, only a few moments later he could hear the hairy feet of what seemed to be hundreds of the foul animals coming towards him.

But before the could reach him there was a flash of light behind him, momentarily blinding the creatures. He turned and saw Legolas running towards him, all the while firing arrows at the spiders.

'Hurry up, Estel, I can't keep that up for long!' Even as he said these words his glow began to grow weaker until it was no longer strong enough to distract the spiders.

Aragorn concentrated on going forward again, gripping the wall and pulling himself to his feet when he finally reached the other tunnel. 

Legolas came up, too, walking with his back to the ranger and never stopping in shooting his arrows.

Soon Aragorn could see a small spot of daylight some distance ahead of him. The exit.

He wanted to wait for his friend but the elf mentioned for him to go on.

'Pado lim, Aragorn!' the prince screamed over his shoulder as he fired another arrow. 'Ú-diro dan! Pado' /Go on, Aragorn! Don't look back! Go/

Reluctantly the ranger turned and walked on towards the light. He hoped Legolas would make it out, too, for the spiders were used to the dark, so they would not be able to follow them as long as the sun shone.

The he had finally reached the end of the tunnel. As he stepped out carefully he had to close his eyes, the light blinding him.

Then he froze in shock as a pair of strong hands grabbed his shoulders.

He was running out of arrows! But the steady flow of spiders seemed to have no end. How many of these damn creatures were in that cave? He knew he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

He just hoped that by now Aragorn had come far enough, and so Legolas was just about to turn and run when suddenly something heavy fell onto his back. A split second later a searing pain exploded in his right shoulder and he dropped the arrow before he could notch it on the string.

He tried to reach back to pull the spider off his back but found that he could barely move his arms, the paralyzing poison of the animal quickly taking effect.

His knees gave way as the fast blood loss caught up with his already weakened body. And when he saw several spiders rushing towards him and thought that now it would be finally over for him, he heard the sound of arrows whistling over his head, killing the advancing creatures.

Then the spider was yanked away from his back and an amused voice said: 'You can't stay away from trouble, can you?'

At first Legolas couldn't believe his ears. He looked up - and straight into the face of Elrohir.

At least he thought it was him, but his vision had started to blur and he wasn't sure. But it did not matter anyway.

'What are you doing here?' he managed to ask, though his voice sounded weak.

'I'll explain when we are outside,' the son of Elrond said. Gently he helped the prince to his feet and led him towards the end of the tunnel.

Just like Aragorn before Legolas was blinded by the sudden light, so he let himself being guided by Elrohir's arms. A relived sigh escaped his lips as he felt the warmth of the sun on his body.

After a few more steps he was lowered on the ground, and when he opened his eyes he saw Aragorn sitting propped up against a rock near him, with Elladan tending to his broken leg.

'Managed to find trouble again, did we?' the other twin said without looking up from his task.

Elrohir had examined the prince's shoulder were the spider had bitten him. 'You were lucky, mellon nin!' he said as he applied some herbs to the wound. 'It was only a small spider that bit you. You won't be able to move that arm for the next few hours, but the poison is not live-threatening.'

'Thank you,' Legolas replied somewhat weakly. 'But what are you doing here?'

'Well, you wanted to be home over a week ago. I mean, with most people that would be nothing to be all too excided about, but knowing you two.'

'Hey, that's not fair!' Aragorn exclaimed. 'It's not our fault that trouble seems to follow us! We certainly did not ask for it!'

'Sure you did not,' Elrohir smiled. 'But it still is amazing how it seems to find you all the time. How did you end up in this cave anyway?'

'Tell them, Estel! It was your idea!' Legolas said with a grin.

After shooting his friend a dark look, the ranger started to tell his brothers their latest adventure.

'Honestly, can't you two, just for once in you life, go on a trip together that does NOT end in disaster?' Elladan sighed after Aragorn finished their tale. 'I'm so tired of you needing to be patched up again and again!'

'Calm down, dear brother,' Aragorn said with a wry grin. 'And it's not that bad this time. We've had far worse!'

'Oh, really?' came the sarcastic reply from Legolas. 'Trapped in the darkness, forced to crawl through rock, stone and sand without light or fresh air for Valar only know how long, I think that is bad enough!'

'Bad or not, what do you think our fathers will say when we bring you home like that again? Especially since we got a visitor shortly before we departed that wanted to see you, Legolas! I think your father meant to see you in one piece!'

Legolas stared at Elrohir, mouth agape. 'My father?'

'Yes, your father. And he's still in Rivendell, waiting for your return.' 

Elrond's sons laughed at the look on Legolas' face. The prince of Mirkwood had intended to return home a fortnight ago. That meant Thranduil would once again have one of his notorious lectures in store for him when he returned, which he wasn't really keen on. Most of them he knew by heart anyway.

The elf prince turned huge pleading eyes at his companions.

'Uh... don't you think we can just... delay a bit more?'

The End


End file.
